Along the Virginia Blue Ridge

This was taken on Rt 460 near the border with West Virginia on the last day of March.

Plants Poking Thru Roberts Pass Bike Trail

Based on what I saw last week when the sun was very low in the west, there could be 100's of these on that 6+ mile trail. The mind boggles! They did spray herbicide before they paved last fall, but it doesn't look like it worked well enough. These are mighty plants!

sixty and six

that would be my age today... it was a grand day with sunshine, a high around 70, a new hose for my grill (which is at least 660 in grill years... it is so old that NO ONE has a replacement hose for it as the connector sizes have changed decades ago... I was beyond pleased when the local NAPA auto parts store built me a new one in 5 minutes for only 25 dollars), lunch in Columbus with daughter Katie, picking up Ethan from Y Club at school the first time this school year, a visit from Emma and Katie to pick up Ethan, a nice steak and salad for dinner cooked on the refurbished grill and a short bike ride after dinner. oh yes, a new book to read from the library... Livinia by Ursala K. Le Guin who is becoming my favorite author for the time being. I'm already on page 106! A great day all around.

I hope your day was even better than mine!

500 Miles on a Bike

I crept over the 500 mile mark for the year on my bicycle today. And yesterday I was able to cover 7 miles in less than half an hour with some wind to my back. So I can see a little progress in my preparation for GOBA this year. In today's ride I averaged over 11 miles an hour for a 14 mile round trip where the wind cannot be a net help. There is hope!

Rockbridge County, VA

I spent the last weekend in March at a photo workshop in Rockbridge County, VA. This is the view from Buena Vista park. My ancestors lived here before moving to Ohio, so it was another home to my family. I need to go back to see where along the Buffalo River they lived. Life is one big returning.

The small black objects to the right on the road are the shoes of my friend who wanted to see how something can be removed in a picture. So I removed him, minus the shoes which would have taken longer than I was willing to spend. Besides, it makes a good story!

Daffodils and Dragonflies

yesterday our first daffodil bloomed and I saw the first dragonflies near Deer Creek on the Roberts Pass bike trail. spring is coming... and so is the snow. the forsythia is blooming too and we have those 3 snows to endure before spring can proceed. But for this week it has been gorgeous. may everyone be enjoying renewal